First Ride of '09

So today was our first ride of the new season! We were both so excited last night that we couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours. We spent most of last night getting the sleds fueled, greased, tuned and tweaked so 4:30 am came fast but we were so ready! Unfortunately we didn't have the Assault with us so we loaded up my '04 700 RMK and Derek's '03 700 RMK and headed down the highway. We met up with some friends on the way out of town and started toward Saratoga. We have never ridden with them before so it was sure to be an experience. There is always an air of excitement and maybe even a little bit of nerves when riding with new people. Once down there, we topped off and headed up the mountain. The group we were with parked in a lot that is quite a bit lower down the mountain than we're used to, so we knew that we were going to have to ride some trails to get up to the good stuff, which was kind of a bummer, but we weren't about to let that ruin our day.

After unloading, starting sleds, working on sleds, getting dressed, going potty, etc. our group of 10 (all Polaris sleds!) was ready to head out. We rode down to Ryan Park, crossed the highway and headed up the trail towards the steep and deep. After about half a mile of washboard and mogul trail riding, both Derek and I were itching to find the first meadow we laid our sights on and spin a cookie or two to help relieve the pent up frustration that can occur when two mountain riders have to ride trails. However, self control won out in the end and we continued on. Despite some issues with one of our friend's kid's sled, we finally made it to some deeper snow. We took a small break at an intersection of the trail which is next to a large meadow that has a creek running through it at the bottom of a small draw. Some of the wives took a break and turned off their sleds, the other group of us tore across the meadow like a swarm of bees. Derek and I took off as fast as we could and found some patches of powder to carve and creek drifts to blast through. It was glorious! After 8 months of praying for snow, it was everything we had been dreaming of. However, riding this time of year is always a little nerve-wracking, you never know when you're going to find a rock or stump hiding beneath the light layer of powder that is still not as deep as we would like it to be. A lot of the creeks and lakes were still not frozen over, and this proved to be a problem for our friend's son. I think he was watching the few of us who were jumping creeks and wanted to try, however his 440 fan cooled Indy didn't quite have the guts to make it through. He ran his front end right into the side of the wind drift on the other side of the creek. Miraculously he didn't land in the creek, so that worked for our benefit. Following some digging, pulling, snow bunje work and a few more stuck sleds, we got him out. The saying goes, "if you aint getting stuck, you aint riding!"

So we continued on our way up the trail, searching for bigger and better playgrounds. We ending up taking a lunch break up on top in a nice meadow with some hills to play on. Of course Derek and I couldn't sit still so we scarfed down our lunch and tore up some hills. After a few near misses with some stumps and rocks, we decided to head down the trail. Finally, we made it to our favorite play spot, a huge open meadow with hills all over the place. Everyone split up and headed their own way looking for their own little piece of heaven. Some people got stuck, but for the most part everyone was having a great time. I was working on picking lines and jumping back and forth over the seat, with SnowKing in the back of my mind. Of course, Derek was not satisfied with the small stuff so he took off up a small mountain searching for his next challenge. I have never seen anyone be so natural or "one" with a machine like Derek is with a sled. Its almost like watching a dance. It really is quite spectacular. Anyway, I went over to my friend and her daughter who were parked at the base of a hill. On my way over, I noticed a very large rock that had obviously been hit with a sled. My friend's daughter had hit the rock, and in some miracle, neither girl nor sled was seriously hurt. We posted up for a few, visiting until my friends husband rode over to where we were. He jumped off his sled ( '08 800 Dragon) and immediately began inspecting his left A-arm. Apparently he had whacked either a stump or rock and bent the bottom rods about 2 inches lower that they originally were. Luckily however, it did not damage his Walker Evan's front shock which could have been a costly mistake. After everyone gathered around, we decided that we shouldn't push his sled to the point of complete ruin, so we decided to limp our way home. We continued down our trail which made a loop back to where we started.

After miles and miles of trail riding (yippee!... lol) and just when I thought i couldn't inflict any more torture on myself by riding down a terrible trail, we arrived back at the highway and I knew that the truck was close. We loaded up, undressed, covered and secured the sleds before indulging in a shared Bud Light with our new group of riding friends. Unfortunately I had to work so we couldn't stay for dinner, but all in all the trip was great. Other than our friend's A-arm, everyone made it out safe and sound and had a great time. Derek and I are both looking forward to many more riding experiences, racing and riding for fun alike. We can't wait to see what this season holds for us